Semester: AY17/18 Sem I
Professor(s): Lou and Saroja
Workload: Light
Overall: The readings for this module were all drawn from one textbook which was extremely readable and even at times enjoyable. The text covered a broad range of topics such as family, religion etc You would also be introduced to the concept of the sociological imagination as well as theorists such as Durkheim/Marx/Weber (not so much their actual works but more like just the general school of thoughts they represent). This module is mostly a touch a go for the topics as each weeks covers one topics. This could be a bad thing for people who want depth (but this is an intro module so I don’t think it was meant to be deep anyway) but was a great thing for me as I got to get a glimpse of many topics which kept me entertained. I didn’t listen super closely to all the lectures (and even did work for other modules in lecture!!) but it was still quite easy to catch up and get my bearings. Overall, quite a light and enjoyable module for me (content-wise at least. How the module was taught was another thing completely). You could probably get by just by doing the assigned readings every week and name-dropping the theorists and reading examples.
Assignments: We had one assignment for this module - a biography-related essay exploring how your past (and of course past social factors) led you to be where you are at. It was a rather strange assignment and I didn’t really know how to go about doing it. Was not difficult so much as it was strange. I remembered it being a rather manageable assignment still.
Exams: Midterms were short-answer questions. Some of the questions asked specifically about readings so do your readings and you will be fine. The readings usually give good examples anyway. Finals were MCQ and an essay. The MCQ was okay if you did your readings. I don’t remember it being particularly tricky except for a few questions. I think the essay was manageable as long as you have done your readings and are able to cite examples and theories.
Professors: the two professors were rather boring. Dr Lou was more boring than Dr Saroja. But since it was a rather understandable module, just look at the slides and do the readings and you probably won’t need to listen in lecture much (at least I didn’t).
Tutorials: I can’t remember who my TA was but she was quite a nice lady although she tended to mumble and was quite boring. Tutorials was mostly her going through some assigned questions and facilitating discussion. It also involved her making us think how to connect random words (like family and education etc) together. Didn’t really make sense then but 2 years in, this exercise made
Recommend? Would 100% recommend it for clearing basket and even as a UE. Readings are light and understandable. Content covers a broad range of topics (which means you’ll usually find something you like) and were interesting. The professors were meh but don’t let it stop you from enjoying the content :-)
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